If you have ever had Decompression Sickness (DCS) due to a scuba diving incident (either recreationally or professionally), please comment on this blog and provide the following information:

1. Scenario: depth, dive time, environment, gear, ascent rate, etc.

2. Signs and Symptoms: how did you know you had DCS?

3. Treatment: how was your case of DCS treated?

Your information is valuable to our community and may be used during lectures on DCS by other DiveBuddy.com members.

Sincerely,

Greg Davis
Owner and Member 1
DiveBuddy.com

Comments

divergeorge - 10/27/2008 1:17 PM The best place to find out about DCS is by reading the book "Diver Down" written by Mike Ange. This book details 19 diving accidents Ange has investigated. DCS and narcossis are reoccuring topics in the book. Diver Down is a must read for all divers regardless of experence level.

Countess4sight - 10/20/2008 11:08 AM I was diagnosed with an air embolism and secondary DCS on a dive in Bonaire, NA in July of 2008. I also had a recurrence on August 1, on the airplane going home. My deepest depth was about 93 feet, with the majority of my bottom time spent at 70 ft. The dive lasted 54 minutes and it was my 13th dive in 5 days. My ascent rate was too high (>30fst) between 60 and 30 feet, though this was no different than any other dive day prior to the incident. I was diving nitrox (32%), as I had been on all 13 dives this trip. The water temp was around 80F and I was wearing a 3mm shortie with 7mm boots. I didn’t even know I had DCS! I had always heard the DSC was extremely painful (I felt NO pain) and the embolism resulted in instant loss of consciousness. My symptoms were disorientation and a feeling of euphoria. I actually accused my divebuddies of spiking my coffee! Lucky for me, they saved my life anyway! With all my strange behavior (and loss of consciousness in the water), the group I was wit

Paco103 - 9/28/2008 11:32 PM I’m not sure. We started out with an easy 40 foot dive in a quarry - 54 degrees, 15 foot vis. I had recently gotten over sinuses, and although my ears cleared on the way down, my head started throbbing after a couple minutes at depth in my sinus cavity behind the eyes. I signalled my buddy and we surfaced. I tried to stay within the ascent limits (as defined by my Suunto Cobra2 computer) and do my safety stop, but when I surfaced my computer still signalled a warning. Within the next week, my knee started causing me minor pain. It was tolerable, and easily ignored if I was busy, but after sitting for a while I would really feel it when I started moving again. 4 weeks after this dive, we went again. My knee was still killing me as I suited up and carried my gear down the hill, but after a 70 foot dive with a gentle ascent, the pain was gone and hasn’t been back since (1 week yesterday).